Lingid sa kaalaman ng marami, hindi newbie actor si Andrew Ramsay.
Kuwento niya sa panayam ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), "Nag-a-act po ako sa L.A. multiple times, pero hindi po naipalabas yung mga ginawa ko dati sa L.A. dito sa Pinas."
Nagsimulang umarte si Andrew sa isang theater company sa Los Angeles, California.
“My first-ever was Macbeth sa Shakespeare Center sa Los Angeles, a theater play po. My first ever professional where I was paid to do twelve weeks, six days a week, twice a day. Live showing po sa LA.”
Ang unang pelikula ni Andrew sa Pilipinas ay ang Ginhawa, isang official full-length film entry sa Cinemalaya 2022.
Nasabi naman ng kanyang Ginhawa co-star na si Ruby Ruiz na mas mahusay umarte si Andrew kaysa sa kanyang kuya na si Derek Ramsay.
Ano ang reaksyon ni Andrew dito?
“Thank you kay Tita Ruby. I think kami ni Derek are both good actors kasi nagpo-focus siya ibang genre, I’m focusing on another genre. But yeah, I really appreciate her comment.”
Sabi naman ng writer na ito, may sariling identity si Andrew.
Sumang-ayon dito si Andrew. “Yeah, and that’s what I want to push, I don’t want to always be known as kapatid ni Derek Ramsay.”
Marami nga raw ang nagsasabing hindi sila magkamukha ni Derek, pero may physical similarities naman sila.
“Yeah, look at the mole,” biro ni Andrew.
IS A MOVIE WITH DEREK IN THE OFFING?
Nilinaw naman ni Andrew na supportive si Derek sa kanyang acting career.
Kuwento niya, "He’s very supportive kasi sinabi niya dati na, ‘If you wanna get into this,’ sabi niya, ‘Do it on your own muna. Try to make more content by yourself and then let’s see if the content is good.’
“If it’s good then ipo-promote ni kuya.”
Ano ang pinakamagandang advice ni Derek sa kanya?
“He always tells me na just take a breather, take a step back, huwag kang mag-overthink sa mga scripts. And he said just be myself.
“But, to be honest, like I take that to heart as well, pero I learned so much sa US, na I incorporate what I learned from the US to here.
“So parang he just let my wings fly, and then he just, you know, supports me along the way.”
Mayroon din daw siyang payo sa kanyang kuya.
“He needs to go back to acting. I keep convincing him, let’s do a movie together. I really want to to do a movie together for CUTAWAY Productions, that’s my dream!
“I wanna do something with him, I wanna produce and sana siya yung bida, ako yung supporting.”
Ano ang isinagot sa kanya ni Derek?
“He’s enjoying his married life, e, muna. That’s what he keeps telling me. He’s in love with Ellen! And I can’t blame him. So I’m happy for him.”
Masaya si Derek sa kanyang asawa na si Ellen Adarna, habang si Andrew naman ay mayroong girlfriend.
“She’s actually the granddaughter of Marissa Delgado.”
Bilang isang hunk actor sa showbiz, kilala si Derek na pantasya ng mga gays. Kumusta naman si Andrew sa mga bading?
“I love the gays! Ever since I was a kid, I have a gay helper. He brought me up, he raised me. Siya nag-alaga sa akin, yayo!”
Wala pa naman daw nanligaw sa kanya na bading.
“But I played gay roles before sa mga short films, sa mga indie films, and I’m open to that as well.
“To be honest, I really wanna be known as a versatile actor here.
"I’m open-minded, I’m diverse, whatever role that comes my way, I’m willing to work for that.”
FILM VENTURES
Samantala, nakilala ni Andrew ang direktor ng Ginhawa na si Christian Lat nang gawin ng una ang short film na Pangako, na kanyang thesis project sa film school.
Sa pagpapatuloy ng kuwento ni Andrew, “So I brought in Christian to be the director, and, you know, I wrote the script along with Christian.”
Ginawa ang Ginhawa noong kakaumpisa pa lamang ng pandemya.
“So nagfi-film kami habang may pandemic and it was really tough kasi may mga RT-PCR, mga swab test.
"And then right after yung Ginhawa, I gained weight!"
Ang pagdadagdag sa kanyang timbang ay request daw ni David Olson, ang kanyang director sa upcoming film na Living in the Dead of Night, na siyang pangalawang pelikula ni Andrew dito sa Pilipinas.
Paliwanag ni Andrew, “Like kasi sabi nung director, ni Direk David, ‘I want you to be the complete opposite of Ginhawa.
"'I want you to be this wannabe warlord drug dealer na aggressive para sa Living in the Dead of Night. And I want you to be more antagonistic.’
“Iyon yung sinabi ni Direk, so that’s what I did.”
Kasama ni Andrew sa Living in the Dead of Night sina Andre Miguel at Anne Gauthier Nieves.
HEADING HIS OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY
Nakausap ng PEP.ph si Andrew nitong Biyernes, July 29, 2022, sa screening ng director’s cut ng Living in the Dead of Night sa Cinema 76 sa Anonas, Quezon City.
Sa gabi ring iyon ang media launch ng CUTAWAY Productions, isang full-service production company na siyang producer ng Living in the Dead of Night.
Si Andrew ay isa sa mga may-ari ng CUTAWAY Productions, at siya rin ang director of sales.
Ang kanyang director naman sa Living in the Dead of Night na si David Olson ay isa sa mga founder ng CUTAWAY at current head of operations ng kumpanya.
Katuwang din nina Andrew at David sina Michael Stamati at Warren Carman.
Paano nabuo ni Andrew ang sariling production company?
“So si Michael Stamati at si Warren Carmen, I’ve known them since I was in fourth grade. And we’ve always had the passion of putting a production company.
"And then, along the way when we actually registered CUTAWAY as a company, we discovered David also.
“So he came as an editor muna."
Kay David daw nanggaling ang idea para sa Living in the Dead of Night.
Pagtuloy ni Andrew, “And then he, direk David, said he wanted to pitch us Living in the Dead of Night, and we fell in love with the idea kasi we wanted to take a risk, e.
“We didn’t want to follow the formula that everyone’s used to here. We wanted to present something different."
Paglarawan pa ni Andrew sa upcoming film, "It’s a bit too artsy, people might get shocked, but it’s something new and something maybe the international film festival might appreciate.”
